Causes of early human population growth

The archaeological record indicates large increases in human population coincident with the emergence of food production about 10,000 years ago. The cause of the growth is unclear. Extreme views attribute the change to increases in the birth rate or to decreases in the death rate. Many argue that sedentism led to improved ovarian function and higher fertility through higher caloric intakes or reduced activity levels. Similarly, shortened lactation periods may have reduced birth spacing and increased fertility. Others attribute the rise in population to decreases in mortality, arguing that the evidence from skeletal populations indicates improvements in health and the expectation of life at birth, though others use the same evidence to argue that mortality increased. An analysis presented here draws on findings that indicate substantial increases in the survival of young children as populations switch from nomadic to sedentary lives. Projections indicate that this improvement in child survival is so critical that it may be followed by substantially larger decreases in survival at later ages, yet result in higher population growth rates and reduced expectation of life at birth. Increases in the birth rate are not necessary for population growth, even when overall mortality increases. Large increases in overall mortality can be associated with large increases in population. Because positive population growth can occur while the expectation of life at birth declines, this analysis shows that this summary statistic is not an appropriate indicator of population fitness. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.